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Social Entrepreneurship
What does it mean and how useful is
the concept?
Idealisation
‘too few men and women here in Britain - a third less
than the proportion in the US - have started or grown
a business or become self-employed and so it is time
to remove the financial, cultural and other barriers to
enterprise so that in Britain starting a business
becomes the ambition not just of an elite few but of
many …the greatest constraint on the growth of
Britain's productivity and prosperity today is now our
failure to realise the educational and entrepreneurial
potential of our own people’.
 Gordon Brown, Mansion House speech 2002
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And Social Entrepreneurs?
 Social entrepreneurship is not a new
phenomenon. Whilst it may represent a
newly coined term, it is hardly a novel
concept. Innovative individuals and
enterprising groups have been addressing
social issues for centuries, as is
demonstrated by the activities of
extraordinary public innovators such as
Florence Nightingale, Susan B. Anthony,
and Mahatma Gandhi, as well as the
collective efforts of groups like the
Rochdale Pioneers, the Tolpuddle Martyrs
and the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
A typical example of blurring
In these examples, the individual or groups
acted as catalysts challenging the status
quo by identifying an apparently insoluble
social problem and tackling it with tenacity
and vision. Their outstanding leadership
towards a social end and their ability to see
opportunities where others saw only
hurdles further single out these charismatic
figures.
(Nicholls, 2005: 2).
A critical view of
entrepreneurship
What do people really think?
The entrepreneur as defined by British TV
comedies: a study in semiotics and
iconography: 'understanding the
entrepreneur as socially constructed'.
Smith, R. (2006), ‘Towards a More Mature
Entrepreneurial Iconology’, paper presented
to the 29th ISBE conference in Cardiff, 31
Oct. to 2 Nov.
Arthur Daly as ‘Flash Harry’
Del Boy from Only Fools and
Horses
Loadsamoney
Chris the ‘Crafty Cockney’
Aren’t they all ‘crafty cockneys’?
 What can we say about education and
class?
 Popular image is associated with
London
 Conflation between enterprise and
criminality?
 Link between the icon of the
entrepreneur and the barrow boy
How useful is the
management literature?
Burns, P. (2001), Entrepreneurship and Small
Business (Basingstoke: Palgrave)
 Attribute
 Independence
 Achievement
Manifestation (mainstream economy)
Individualism
Profitability and longevity of
business; growth
 Profit drive
Maximum financial return
 Risk-taking
Borrowing money; moving into new
sectors
 Opportunism
Identifying new sectors
 Innovation
Exploring new technologies or
management techniques
 Confidence
Ability to ‘go it alone’ sometimes
against expert advice
 Energy
Willingness to work long hours, travel
widely
 Self-motivation Creating own job rather than seeking
work through application
 Vision
Forseeing future business
developments
 Attribute
 Independence
Manifestation (sustainable economy)
Insulation of community against
destructive forces of globalisation
 Achievement
Sustainability
 Profitability
Sufficient surplus to ensure
continuation of business activity
 Risk-taking
Balancing job survival against
innovation
 Opportunism
Identifying new sectors
 Innovation
Exploring new forms of organization
structure
 Confidence
Based on mutual support
 Energy
Willingness to work long hours
 Self-motivation Based on mutual support
 Vision
Foreseeing and envisioning
environmental sustainability
Williams, C. C. (2006), The Hidden Enterprise
Culture: Entrepreneurship in the Underground
Economy (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar), chap. 2.
 Three classic requirement of the
entrepreneur are:
 to prioritise the accumulation of
money;
 to spot opportunities;
 to innovate.
The inadequacy of the standard view is
demonstrated by the need to develop
sub-categories.
Defining social entrepreneurship
 Entrepreneurs are ‘change agents in the
economy. By serving new markets or
creating new ways of doing things, they
move the economy forward’ (Dees, 1998).
 Social entrepreneurship reaches the parts
of society other policy initiatives do not
reach, that social entrepreneurs are unsung
heroes and alchemists with magical
qualities who can build things from nothing
(Dees, 2004).
 This is largely proselytising—and coming
from US.
 Issue of ownership and control ignored
US definition of Dees
 Focus of literature on individual characteristics of
people involved in the social economy.
 Begins with market-based entrepreneurs who
“mobilize the resources of others to achieve their
entrepreneurial objectives”.
 The social entrepreneur can therefore be defined as
someone who acts as a “change agent in the social
sector” by:
 Adopting a mission
 Pursuing new opportunities to achieve that mission
 Continually innovating, adapting and learning
 Avoiding limitations of current resources
 Being concerned with accountability to their clients
and community
Policy focus on development of
social capital
 Provision of work and through such activity
empowering people to build up their ‘social
capital’
 Scottish Executive emphasises this role without
exploring the definition or usage of the concept
 Social economy and social enterprise strategies
are directed at providing products, services
and employment to deprived regions and areas
 Supposed to assist in producing regional
sustainability in ‘weak’ development terms
relating to economic growth and ‘strong’
development terms in relation to social
cohesion
The entrepreneur as lone hero
Is it an individual decision?
 A paper on the characteristics of the
entrepreneurial personality (Littunen,
2000) that has, in its published
electronic form, been downloaded
more than any other in the Emerald
system, begins by stating that
‘Starting up a new firm is very much
an individual decision’, a conclusion
which it is the central purpose of this
paper to challenge
Or iconic local champion?
‘Associative entrepreneurship’?
 Based on mutual values
 Involves the sharing of skills by groups of
individuals to achieve the best outcomes for
those in their group and the wider community
 Central role of ownership and control
 Particularly relevant in areas that have
historically been dominated by nationalized
industries and/or single employers, or where
there has been a strong radical tradition?
 Prototypical example: co-operatively-owned
coal-mine Tower Colliery in the South Wales
Valleys.
Do Social Entrepreneurs wish to be
identified by this label?
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What do you tell people you do?
Obviously, I’m a mother! [giggle] I don’t know really.
Depends on my mood. I don’t mention that I’m married to
a vet – ever! because then they want to pull in the favours.
If I’m on my own, that’s the last thing I mention. I just say
I work for the credit union, you know. I don’t like titles and
things…
How do you feel about the term social entrepreneur?
No, I don’t see myself as an entrepreneur.
Why not?
I just don’t! [giggle] I don’t know, I’d have to think about
that.
What springs to mind when you hear the term social
entrepreneur?
um…making things up, making it a success, you know, out
of nothing and then you make this big thing, and help
people basically.
Howorth, C., Parkinson, C. and Coupland, C. (2006),
‘Resisting the Identity of Social Entrepreneur’, paper
presented to the 29th ISBE conference in Cardiff, 31 Oct.
 There was a great deal of resistance to the label of
social entrepreneur. Overall, only two responded
positively to the label and they treated their public
acceptance of it with some caution. Some of the
participants avoided the word ‘social’ in association
with ‘entrepreneur’ as if the two did not go together.
The vehement rejection of the term social
entrepreneur by over half the participants is notable.
Explanations might include a greater affinity with the
community collective and seeing entrepreneurs as
individuals; viewing entrepreneurs as heroic ‘other’
people; not associating with the popular myth of
entrepreneurship. Alternative identities that emerged
were around community activists, managers and
caretakers.
Questions to think about
 Is the label ‘entrepreneur’ attractive
or unattractive?
 Is the term ‘social entrepreneur’
helpful or unhelpful to those actually
out there, doing it?
 Is the icon and reputation of the
entrepreneur limiting economic
growth and/or social benefit?